Tap, rockabilly, classical, Broadway: Midwest Trust Center’s new season has it all
If you like variety in your cultural offerings, the Midwest Trust Center’s 2023-2024 season is for you. Stacie McDaniel, who last year succeeded Emily Behrmann as executive director of the center, has put together a season that has everything from tap and rockabilly to French baroque music and Broadway musicals.
McDaniel was previously the director of the Performing Arts Center at Georgia Southern University in Statesboro, Georgia. But she was born and raised in southern Illinois, outside the St. Louis metro area.
“My husband and I had been in the South for about 10 years and really wanted to move back and be closer to family, closer to the culture that really spoke to us,” McDaniel said.
“We couldn’t have made a better choice. Kansas City already feels like home. It’s such a wonderful community of people. It has all of the access to culture you could want, but the people are so kind, so welcoming.”
McDaniel said the new season “was 100% programmed by me,” though she just took over her position last fall.
“It was a lot of work,” she said. “Having a new space to program for was certainly a challenge, but I was a presenter at my previous position, so I certainly had a foundation for that. The biggest challenge was getting to know the community. Getting to know folks and hearing their feedback was the work, really.”
Those who appreciated Behrmann’s eclectic programming will be happy to know that McDaniel has a very similar programming philosophy.
For classical fans, there’s our hometown quartet Opus 76 on Sept. 9 with “Music of Regency,” a “Bridgerton”-themed concert featuring music by Mozart and Brahms. On May 2, 2024, it’s Les Violons du Roy with guitarist Milos as special guest.
“They’re a chamber orchestra out of Quebec, Canada that is styled on what a royal chamber orchestra would have looked like in the time of Louis XIV,” McDaniel said.
Multiple offerings will please dance fans. McDaniel is continuing one of Behrmann’s important projects, New Dance Partners. On Sept. 15 and 16, members of the Kansas City Ballet, Owen/Cox Dance Group, Störling Dance Theatre and Wylliams/Henry Contemporary Dance Company will perform newly created works by four different choreographers.
Chicago Tap Theater, which does tap and jazz with live music, performs on Oct. 13.
“It’s a really fun program called ‘Unleash the Beats,’ where they do tap styles from the 1920s to today,” McDaniel said. “It’s a vastly varied program, a lot of fun and very colorful.”
On March 24 it’s an intriguing show called “Beyond Babel” produced by Hideaway Circus.
“It’s a fully realized stage production all done in street styles like hip hop and krumping,” McDaniel said. “It’s a narrative piece based on the story of ‘Romeo and Juliet.’ The story is that there’s a wall being built in the community that splits the community in half, which creates a war where there never had been one before. So it’s a reference to the Tower of Babel in the Bible.”
The Midwest Trust Center continues its tradition of bringing Broadway to Kansas City with “Little Women the Musical” on Feb. 10 and “Cassette Roulette” starring John Cameron Mitchell on Nov. 10.
“John Cameron Mitchell is a huge Broadway star most famous for ‘Hedwig and the Angry Inch,’” McDaniel said. “This production is a completely improvised concert where they spin a roulette wheel on stage to decide what stories they tell and what songs they sing.”
Folkies have a plethora of choices next season, including “The Simon and Garfunkel Story” on April 28 and Rum Ragged on Oct. 14.
“They’re a folk group out of Newfoundland, Canada,” McDaniel said. “They do Irish and Celtic folk music with really interesting instrumentation and vocalizations.”
McDaniel said she’s making an effort to provide more offerings for families.
“People move to Johnson County to raise their families, so we’re really excited about bringing in more family-oriented shows. ‘North’ (on Jan. 27) is one great example. It’s a new musical about an enslaved woman and her son using the Underground Railroad to flee to freedom. It has lots of great music and interesting characters and a wonderful narrative.”
And it wouldn’t be a Midwest Trust Center season without an off-beat holiday concert.
“‘Million Dollar Quartet Christmas’ is our big Christmas show this year,” McDaniel said. “It’s a spin-off of the Broadway show ‘Million Dollar Quartet’ about Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins. This time they’re going to do holiday favorites plus songs from their catalog.”
The 2023-2024 season:
Sept. 9: The Opus 76 Quartet “Music of Regency” (Polsky Theatre)
Sept. 15-16: New Dance Partners “The Ultimate Collaboration” (Yardley Hall)
Sept. 22: “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” Live in Concert (Yardley Hall)
Sept. 23: MTC Kids Jam – Jazzy Ash and the Leaping Lizards (Polsky Theatre)
Oct. 13: Chicago Tap Theatre “Unleash the Beats” (Yardley Hall)
Oct. 14: Rum Ragged (Polsky Theatre)
Oct. 19: Sugar Skull (Yardley Hall)
Oct. 20: Nobuntu (Polsky Theatre)
Nov. 10: “Cassette Roulette” starring John Cameron Mitchell (Yardley Hall)
Dec. 2: MTC Kids Jam – Hot Peas ‘N Butter (Polsky Theatre)
Dec. 7: “Million Dollar Quartet Christmas” (Yardley Hall)
Dec. 8-9: What If Puppets “Animal Amigos” (Polsky Theatre)
Jan. 6, 2024: MTC Kids Jam – Kadesh & the Dinosaur World Connections “A Trip Around the World” (Polsky Theatre)
Jan. 13: Bach Aria Soloists & Heart of America Shakespeare Festival “Women of Note in Words & Song” (Polsky Theatre)
Jan. 19: Rumours – A Fleetwood Mac Tribute (Yardley Hall)
Jan. 20: “Breath & Hammer” (Polsky Theatre)
Jan. 27: “North” (Yardley Hall)
Jan. 28: WindSync (Polsky Theatre)
Feb. 3: “Makin’ Cake” by Dasha Kelly Hamilton (Polsky Theatre)
Feb. 10: “Little Women the Musical” (Yardley Hall)
Feb. 17: Damn Tall Buildings (Polsky Theatre)
Feb. 18: The Peking Acrobats (Yardley Hall)
Feb. 24: Winterlude Jazz Festival: Delfeayo Marsalis and the Uptown Jazz Orchestra (Yardley Hall)
March 1: The Doo Wop Project (Yardley Hall)
March 3: The StepCrew (Yardley Hall)
March 8: Aquila Theatre — “Fahrenheit 451” (Yardley Hall)
March 23: MTC Kids Jam — Sugar Free Allstars (Polsky Theatre)
March 24: “Beyond Babel” (Yardley Hall)
April 11: “Alice: Dreaming of Wonderland” (Yardley Hall)
April 28: “The Simon and Garfunkel Story” (Yardley Hall)
May 2: Les Violons du Roy: Jonathan Cohen, Music Director; Milos, Guitar (Yardley Hall)
May 4: MTC Kids Jam - 123 Andrés (Polsky Theatre)
May 5: The Opus 76 Quartet with violist Paul Neubauer “Mozart and Brahms” (Polsky Theatre)
May 10: The Concert Truck (Polsky Theatre)
May 17: “¡Viva Mexico! ¡Viva America!” (Yardley Hall)
Midwest Trust Center, 12345 College Blvd. For tickets and more information, 913-469-4445 or jccc.edu/midwest-trust-center.
Musica Sacra
Musica Sacra always puts on a delightful spring concert, and this year is no exception. On April 23, Timothy McDonald will lead his ensemble in music by Handel and Corelli April 23 at Arrupe Auditorium on the Rockhurst University campus.
The program will begin with the Funeral Anthem on the Death of Queen Caroline by Handel.
“The work displays a perfect balance between personal expressive sorrow and communal grief,” McDonald said. Also on the program is a Sonata da Chiesa, or Church Sonata, by Arcangelo Corelli and Handel’s Coronation Anthem, “Let Thy Hand Be Strengthened.”
7:30 p.m. April 23. Arrupe Auditorium, Rockhurst University, 1100 Rockhurst Road. Free. rockhurst.edu/center-arts-letters/musica-sacra.
You can reach Patrick Neas at patrickneas@kcartsbeat.com and follow his Facebook page, KC Arts Beat, at www.facebook.com/kcartsbeat.
